Harvest Work

Acceptable Service

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.—Hebrews 12:28

All nature, animate and inanimate, is made to praise and serve God. To honor and serve their creator is written within the being of all God’s creatures. But today, after many centuries of being steeped in sin, man’s moral and mental sensibilities have been diminished and thus he serves self and not God. The result has been gross darkness that has caused untold unhappiness and misery. True happiness depends on serving God acceptably. Ultimately all who will be given eternal life must understand that to serve and love God is to attain supreme happiness and peace (Proverbs 3:1,2).

The Scriptures are replete with the concept that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). When the people of earth ultimately learn this lesson, even a future life of eternity will not be sufficient time to extol their God for his graciousness on their behalf. How can hearts that truly love God with their entire being keep from showing their love and appreciation? No one can ever repay God. He is the great giver and therefore the pattern to follow. The spirit of true giving is in passing the blessing on to another. As God loves us, so should we love and serve our fellow man.

One of the best examples of this concept is seen in Revelation 22:17. The work of Christ and his church will be to bestow the blessing of the Millennial kingdom on the world. Those of mankind who catch the spirit of the kingdom will also delight in doing the same to their fellow man: "And let him that heareth say, Come." All will be blessed with the privilege of dispensing God’s blessings.

Acceptable Service Now Limited

At the present time, the choice of acceptable service is limited to those called of God according to his purpose (Romans. 8:28). The work of this Gospel age is to gather the body of Christ, those who will ultimately have the privilege of apportioning the blessings God has in store for ALL mankind. Among those who call themselves his children at the present time, there are various ideas of what God’s will is for them and how God wants them to serve. Some believe that today’s church is the instrument used of God to save the masses of unbelievers. To achieve this, much time and money are expended in sending missionaries to foreign lands. Others believe that they must help God improve the plight of the poor and downtrodden, both at home and abroad. Still others believe that it is a Christian’s duty to improve the world through involvement in government and politics and thus we see such movements as the Moral Majority and the Religious Right.

What do the Scriptures teach concerning the will of God for his church today? If as many Christians claim, the work of the hour is to convert mankind and improve their lot on earth physically and morally, failure appears to be the result. At the moment, Christianity is a minority religion in the world and daily the poor and hungry increase. Did Christ attempt to save all the poor and feed all the hungry? When Judas protested regarding the precious perfume that Mary poured on Jesus’ head just before his death, he said, "It may have been sold and given to the poor." Jesus responded with, "the poor you have with you always" (John 12:8), indicating that he did not consider ministering to the needs of the poor to be the work of the hour. Christ certainly healed many people in his short life on earth, but in proportion to all the sick and dying, the number was very small, and then those he did help ultimately died. And his work was limited to Israel only (Matthew 10:5,6). The works he did while on earth obviously served another purpose. It seems evident that they were simply a picture of the greater works that would take place in his Millennial kingdom.

What Is Acceptable Service?

Three areas of service for the present time are delineated in Scripture: the Lord, the truth, and the brethren. Service to these three are so intertwined that it is often difficult to separate them. We cannot serve one without serving the other. An example of this is found in 1 John 4:20,21: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

God is love and all his doings are permeated with this quality. When we come to God to give him our life in consecration, it is to love him with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).

This is God’s law and God’s will for us. The outworking of this love for God seeks expression and it is to be found in love for our neighbor. The Golden Rule has its greatest application to our brethren, those who have also covenanted to serve the Lord. Jesus elaborates on this in John 15:13: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And who are the friends? "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" (John 15:14). We have this counsel in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Verse 39 of Matthew 22 is linked to verse 38 as cause is to effect. The practical aspect of our supreme love for him will be to "love our neighbor as ourselves," and thus to lay down our lives as he laid down his life for us.

The Example of Paul

The apostle Paul exemplified the true Christian life in one statement: "This one thing I do" (Philippians 3:13). He advises us to "Be ye followers [imitators] of me, even as I also am of Christ"(1 Corinthians 11:1). Paul spent every effort for the Lord, the truth, and the brethren. It is true that Paul worked as a tentmaker to support himself, but this was often done for a period of time to accumulate sufficient funds to be in "full time service." When he was not working at his trade, the rest of his time was totally dedicated to the Lord’s service. In 2Corinthians 11:28 he talks about having the care of all the Gentile churches; in Acts 20:19, 20 he writes about expending his energy on behalf of the truth and the brethren, teaching them publicly and going from home to home, establishing them in the knowledge and love of the truth. He tirelessly worked on behalf of the truth, even though often in danger from false brethren and others who opposed him and his work. All of his pilgrim trips were to establish churches and to teach and encourage the brethren in Europe and Asia.

Our consecration should be like that of Paul’s—everything totally devoted to the Lord: our hopes, aims, goals, ambitions, possessions, talents, our all. As stewards, it is our job to learn how to use and distribute these. The Scriptures tell us that the work at this time in the age is one of harvest—reaping the results of the work done by those who sowed throughout this present Gospel age (John 4:34-38; Matthew 13:30-39; Revelation 14:14). Those to be reaped or harvested are also mentioned under different names and pictures: the wheat, the seed that fell on good ground (Matthew 13:8, 30), the brethren, the Lord’s sheep, the Lord’s jewels (Malachi 3:16,17). The time is short and the wheat must all be gathered into the barn before blessings can flow to the remainder of mankind.

Our chief work therefore is to serve the Lord by serving our brethren and the truth. It is true that we can serve them temporally and we should always be alert to the needs of our brethren (1 John 3:16,17; James 2:15,16), but it is even better to serve them spiritually. Our faith must be demonstrated by works. Our continual concern must be the needs of the brethren. This implies more than the intellectual study of the word; we must apply it. We must also study ourselves to know our abilities and weak points. We must study the leading of the Lord and his directions to know how to act aright. We must study the brethren to know how to provoke them unto love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). We must study to make ourselves and our brethren approved of the Lord (2 Timothy 2:15), so that we may be judged as more than conquerors.

All Else Is Loss and Dross

Our lives should evidence the fact that the truth is of paramount importance and that we "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord," and that we are willing to "suffer the loss of all things, and do count them but dung," that we may win Christ and "attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Philippians 3:8,11). Nothing we may ever do or say is more persuasive than to keep our lives afire with the love of our Lord and the truth and that our entire life be dedicated to its service. How many will be led to more fully follow in the footstep of Christ by such an example no one will ever know until we meet Christ face to face on the other side of the vail. And what a baneful effect the opposite example may have. It is our duty to thus lay down our lives for our brethren by being totally immersed in doing God’s will.

In living such a life ultimately all other things will lose their allurement and glamour. We will curtail the obligations of the home, work, and our own desires wherever possible, buying back time to spend in prayer, study, the spread of the truth, and gathering with our brethren. Every waking hour can and should be filled with thoughts of service and how we can increase our opportunities. It has truly been asked, "If we were accused of being a Christian, would there be sufficient evidence to convict us?"

Daily we can find countless opportunities in which to serve the Lord. It may be true that we will never direct any great work for the Lord, or convert any to the way of the Lord. It may often seem to us that our efforts are in vain, but this is the way that leads to life eternal; this is our sanctification.

The man who is acceptable to God is a man of prayer. "Pray one for another . . . the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Many things can be wrought by prayer (Acts 10:31; 12:5; 16:13; Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18). Become one who is always instant in prayer.

Study

Our personal study is a very important component of service to the brethren. When one begins to study the Word, it shortly becomes evident that one lifetime is not sufficient to mine the gold contained in the Scriptures. There is truly food for all and more than can ever be digested even were we to study 24 hours a day. This will be proof in itself that there is no time for any earthly pursuits or endeavors beyond what is necessary to maintain life. It is good to become known as one whose words and thoughts are in the language of the Scriptures. Always have a word of Scriptural encouragement, a question to stir the minds of others, and a gem from the mine to encourage others in the narrow way.

In conjunction with personal study is linked the meeting with brethren. Many Scriptural admonitions are given along this line: "they that feared the Lord spake often one to another" (Malachi 3:16), and "let us consider one another to provoke [stir up] unto love and to good works. ... not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together ... and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24,25). Our task is to transform our minds, our characters, to sharpen our swords (our understanding of the truth) and to assist each other in the embroidery of our bridal robes (Psalm 45). Meetings, whether with one or many, is a time when we are re-energized in our zeal and dedication for the Lord and the truth. This is only possible when the fires of love and zeal are stoked by the precious promises found in the Scriptures.

Spreading God’s Word

There is much work to do in the harvest. We need to not only encourage those of our brethren that we know, but those not known to us. It involves sending the word out to all our brethren that are still searching. We must spread the word far and wide and tell the glad tidings to all. There are still many in Zion longing to hear the offer of the Lord to make a sacrifice of their all to run for the great prize of the high calling in Christ. We should never slack our efforts in casting our bread upon the waters and in sowing seed, for we never know how far our efforts will reach (Ecclesiastes 11:1,6).

There are time-honored methods that are still used to reach our brethren wherever they are. We can tract with various pieces of literature. We can go from house to house, from city to city, or even within the sphere of our daily activities. How much truth could be spread if every day each one gave out just three tracts? They can be left in the many places we frequent—in phone booths, doctors’ offices, in the mail while paying our bills, in response to a question asked by a person in a store line. Books and videos can be placed in libraries, video stores, waiting rooms, colleges and so forth. Ads, often at very low cost, offering literature can be placed in newspapers. The newspapers daily reflect the sufferings of a world gone mad. Letters to the editor can give hope and comfort to many, and at no cost. The opportunities are limitless; the influence will be astronomical.

Letters of comfort can be sent to the grieving, whether the names are found in the obituary columns of the newspapers, on the radio, or on the TV news. There is work to be done to encourage new interest: visits, phone calls, personal letters, meetings. Our work does not stop once a little one finds the truth.

New technology is an exciting tool that can be used to promulgate the truth. Users can create web sites on various topics. E-mails can be sent to encourage the brethren around the world. Letters can be sent to sites that are out of harmony with God’s word. Offers of literature can be posted on various advertising sections of the Internet.

Once efforts are made to serve the Lord, the truth, and the brethren in the proper manner, the one engaged in such services will find that there will be no time to become engaged in any extra secular work or pleasures. We will surely not know where to cease our efforts. The following quotation will apply to every consecrated child of God and the truthfulness of it will be found in the living of its advice:

"The Lord’s people spend and are being spent in his service—by volunteer work, by attending meetings, by holding meetings and in various ways, according to opportunity. They are living separate from the world—distinct lives, lives of consecration. The world now has an eight-hour day. The Lord’s faithful people would, on the contrary, make theirs a sixteen-hour day. But all these present-day conditions constitute perils. For us to do what others do, and to devote to the Lord’s service only what the world considers a reasonable day’s work, would not be fulfilling our covenant of sacrifice at all. Those who seek merely to do right, and to put in eight hours or so a day faithfully, after the manner of the world, will be judged from this standpoint. They are not whole-heartedly fulfilling the conditions of the covenant of sacrifice.

"But the Little Flock will serve the Lord with such delight that they will scarcely know how to cease their efforts. They recognize that their bodies are fully consecrated to the Lord, and they are daily putting them to death in a reasonable, rational manner. In view of these perilous times, let us each ask himself the question, To which class do I belong?"—Reprints, page 5413.

"What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits unto me?" A totally dedicated life of service is the answer.